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Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii

The discovery of large, complex, internal canals within the rostra of fossil reptiles has been linked with an enhanced tactile function utilised in an aquatic context, so far in pliosaurids, the Cretaceous theropod Spinosaurus, and the related spinosaurid Baryonyx. Here, we report the presence of a...

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Autores principales: Barker, Chris Tijani, Naish, Darren, Newham, Elis, Katsamenis, Orestis L., Dyke, Gareth
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5473926/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28623335
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03671-3
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author Barker, Chris Tijani
Naish, Darren
Newham, Elis
Katsamenis, Orestis L.
Dyke, Gareth
author_facet Barker, Chris Tijani
Naish, Darren
Newham, Elis
Katsamenis, Orestis L.
Dyke, Gareth
author_sort Barker, Chris Tijani
collection PubMed
description The discovery of large, complex, internal canals within the rostra of fossil reptiles has been linked with an enhanced tactile function utilised in an aquatic context, so far in pliosaurids, the Cretaceous theropod Spinosaurus, and the related spinosaurid Baryonyx. Here, we report the presence of a complex network of large, laterally situated, anastomosing channels, discovered via micro-focus computed tomography (μCT), in the premaxilla and maxilla of Neovenator, a mid-sized allosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous of the UK. We identify these channels as neurovascular canals, that include parts of the trigeminal nerve; many branches of this complex terminate on the external surfaces of the premaxilla and maxilla where they are associated with foramina. Neovenator is universally regarded as a ‘typical’ terrestrial, predatory theropod, and there are no indications that it was aquatic, amphibious, or unusual with respect to the ecology or behaviour predicted for allosauroids. Accordingly, we propose that enlarged neurovascular facial canals shouldn’t be used to exclusively support a model of aquatic foraging in theropods and argue instead that an enhanced degree of facial sensitivity may have been linked with any number of alternative behavioural adaptations, among them defleshing behaviour, nest selection/maintenance or social interaction.
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spelling pubmed-54739262017-06-21 Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii Barker, Chris Tijani Naish, Darren Newham, Elis Katsamenis, Orestis L. Dyke, Gareth Sci Rep Article The discovery of large, complex, internal canals within the rostra of fossil reptiles has been linked with an enhanced tactile function utilised in an aquatic context, so far in pliosaurids, the Cretaceous theropod Spinosaurus, and the related spinosaurid Baryonyx. Here, we report the presence of a complex network of large, laterally situated, anastomosing channels, discovered via micro-focus computed tomography (μCT), in the premaxilla and maxilla of Neovenator, a mid-sized allosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous of the UK. We identify these channels as neurovascular canals, that include parts of the trigeminal nerve; many branches of this complex terminate on the external surfaces of the premaxilla and maxilla where they are associated with foramina. Neovenator is universally regarded as a ‘typical’ terrestrial, predatory theropod, and there are no indications that it was aquatic, amphibious, or unusual with respect to the ecology or behaviour predicted for allosauroids. Accordingly, we propose that enlarged neurovascular facial canals shouldn’t be used to exclusively support a model of aquatic foraging in theropods and argue instead that an enhanced degree of facial sensitivity may have been linked with any number of alternative behavioural adaptations, among them defleshing behaviour, nest selection/maintenance or social interaction. Nature Publishing Group UK 2017-06-16 /pmc/articles/PMC5473926/ /pubmed/28623335 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03671-3 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Barker, Chris Tijani
Naish, Darren
Newham, Elis
Katsamenis, Orestis L.
Dyke, Gareth
Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title_full Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title_fullStr Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title_full_unstemmed Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title_short Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii
title_sort complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the isle of wight theropod neovenator salerii
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5473926/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28623335
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03671-3
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